Two days after Thomas West’s remarks on girls’ education, officials at the Ministry of Education (MoE) said it will reopen schools for all age groups, both girls and boys, at the beginning of new solar year (March 21).

Remarks over the return of Afghan boys and girls to schools come as the United States’ special representative to Afghanistan Thomas West told BBC Pashto that the US and international community intends to pay the salaries of schoolteachers if the Taliban lets the schools open for girls.

Officials said they will decide over girls’ schools without considering external pressures, adding that schools were closed temporarily across Afghanistan and will be opened in the coming spring.

“If the international community and US pay the salaries of teachers or not, we, as the government, will open schools in the spring and this decision does not link with the demands of the US and international community,” said Aziz Ahmad Reyan, head of the Publication and Public Relations of the MoE.

“The ministry of higher education is making efforts to open universities very soon,” said Ahmad Taqqi, spokesman of the ministry of higher education.

Girls in grades 7-12 were barred from school after the return of the Islamic Emirate to power in Afghanistan in mid August, which drew strong protests internally and abroad.

“If the demands of the international community over the reopening of schools are not considered, we will witness a government collapse,” said Khalil Ahmad Kanjo, educations expert.

“The current government is obliged to pave the way of learning and to welcome the demands of the people and the world,” said Wali Mohammad Sarwari, university teacher.

In the meantime, residents urged the government to take steps to reopen schools and universities for Afghan girls. “Education is a basic part of a society, so it needs to be in progress,” said a resident of Kabul.